ihatechoosingusernames

Auto correct strikes again!  

 
University Of South Florida Speech Language Pathology, Masters (F16) Other via Other on 8 Apr 2016  A 9 Apr 2016 report spam To the USF poster below: congratulations on getting accosted! There is an FB page! It's called USF SLP Class of 2018 Here is the link! www.facebook.com/groups/829165967228959/

Haha sorry, I just can't understand your research. Do you collect data and pass it off to someone else to analyze? Do you expect all your data to be fit with a nice, normal regression? How do you communicate with mathematical biologists/sociologists and computer scientists when you need fancier techniques (like machine learning, perhaps) without having a rudimentary knowledge of those things? 

Excellent topic and one I've pondered often.  After undergrad I took 8 years off to explore several fields, live on my own, work several dead end jobs, and really figure out what I wanted to do.  Then I went for a Master's degree while working full time in a dead end job and after graduating landed a job in my field.  2 years later I'm about to start a PhD and am both excited and annoyed by it lol.
What am I most looking forward to about returning?  Learning.  I really enjoy the academic environment with classes, reading, trips to the library, seminars, etc.  I have found that in the working world the desire to learn/learning on your own may be frowned upon or even considered threatening in some fields.  I'm tired of this.  
What am I nervous about?  Moving across the country alone with no support system.  There's always unforeseen things that just can't be planned for and I won't have anyone to rely on should I for example need someone to help me out after emergency surgery.  Sure I could call my family, but I can't actually count on them to drop everything to help me as they live on low or fixed incomes and traveling/missing work just isn't an option.  
What am I doing to make the transition easier?  In terms of getting back into the groove of school I've continued to be active in research by volunteering in a lab.  I also read quite a bit in general to prepare for all the reading assignments.  
I also plan to structure my program requirements as a job as much as possible.  I did this in my Master's program and it was the smartest move I made.  I went to campus early to study, use the library, meet with professors, and work on group projects.  This was so much more productive than studying at home the way I did in undergrad because there were fewer distractions and I had to stay on task since the campus would eventually close.  I also kept research articles or a textbook with me most of the time so I could take advantage of unexpected downtime standing in line, at work, etc.  
During the week I didn't care how much homework or reading was left, I went to bed when I was tired.  I kept a detailed calendar of everything I needed to do in order to avoid procrastinating or sucking up my entire weekends with homework.  If I had to study or do homework on the weekends I set a fixed amount of time, did whatever I could, and then forced myself out of the house to do something fun.
In terms of everything outside of school I'm just trying to think of it as an exciting opportunity rather than dwell on the fact that I'll really be alone.  I'm making a list of things to do so I don't end up sitting around at home going crazy.  I tend to enjoy solitary tasks despite being extroverted so I'm trying to be mindful of not spending so much time alone.  I will likely just add social activities to my calendar and hopefully will find friends that way.     

I know a few pages back there was some discussion about a LiveScribe pen to take/digitize notes and record lectures. I just saw that Moleskine came out with their Smart Writing Set that transfers your hand written notes to their app, and from there you can automatically transcribe them to type and download them as a PDF. You can also record lectures with the app as well. It also uploads to Google Docs and syncs with Evernote, if you happen to use that  I'm seriously considering this! I like to handwrite my notes, and but I'd like to be able to convert it all to text and easily search through my notes later!

This is unhelpful, but I want to say that I absolutely agree with what most people have said here about reminding PIs but for Christ's sake, it shouldn't be that hard for grown people to keep their own deadlines in check. Directed at the PI, not you, OP. Yes, sure, it's your responsibility to make sure they get their letters in but at some point it also becomes their responsibility as well. I feel like in academia we have become so used to professors using "busy" as an excuse for poor deadline adherence, particularly when it comes to recommendation letters. Everybody's busy; professors do not have the monopoly on busy. And yet many professionals in other very demanding fields don't have the cultural expectation that they will miss deadlines, ignore emails, and forget things all willy-nilly. If my current manager (non-academic industry) ignored 90% of my emails she'd get fired.
If it were me, I'd be annoyed, and I might say something like "Oh, sorry - I sent you a mail reminding you about 6 days before the deadline; perhaps it landed in your spam folder/maybe you didn't get it?" and then move onto the next thing. You could even build that out and say "Oh, sorry - I sent you a mail reminding you about six days before the deadline, but perhaps you didn't get it. Would you rather me remind you in person or over the phone in the future?"


I would find this kind of behavior a bit bizarre from a professor. It's not the students' fault that the professor doesn't read all of her emails; the student sent an email directed towards the professor with a reminder in it and the professor didn't read it. But that doesn't mean the student didn't actually remind the professor - it doesn't mean the reminder "doesn't count." The PI is well within her rights to clarify with the student that she'd rather reminders come in emails that are directed only at her and not at a group, but that doesn't negate the fact that the reminder was sent in the first place. The PI simply chose not to read it. That's her fault.
And the thing is, she's only going to use this excuse again whenever she hasn't read an email very closely.
Again, what is stopping this professor from making a quick calendar entry that says "Sally's recommendation letter due 4/29" and then adding a reminder to write the damn thing a week before the deadline? That is what every graduate student is expected to do when deadlines come and go, and this is what I did when students asked me to write a recommendation letter. I did ask them to remind me by X dates if they hadn't heard from me by then, but far more frequently I sent them an email letting them know I had finished the recommendation well before the due date. That's what electronic calendars are for.
I know I'm banging my head against a wall and my irritation is not helpful, OP, but know that I am irritated for you. Nonetheless, others have given you good advice:
-This professor has shown already that she is unreliable, so you need to do everything much earlier than you think you need to. 2-3 days isn't enough - she's going to need at least a couple weeks to get her shit together. Really, this is the most important thing. This is the kind of advisor who says she'll review your drafts in 2 weeks and really takes 4 weeks.
-You may have to do some office drive-bys. I hope you live close to campus, because I'd be cruising by her office multiple times a day until I found her if I needed something. This is what comes of advisors who don't answer emails - they get ambushed by their students. Try early in the morning when she may be dropping her belongings off in the office or in the late afternoon when she may be gathering her things to go home. Or, if you know or can find her office phone number, call it. Professors get caught off guard when their office phone rings because they aren't expecting it. However, this might work only 2-3 times before it loses its effectiveness and she starts ignoring your phone number.
-This is probably not the most productive thing in the world, but I use slightly passive-aggressive tendencies. Like if a professor said I didn't send them something, I do the "Oh, sorry, you must not have gotten my email! I will forward it to you" and then forward the email with the timestamp and everything still there. Of course, you have to know your advisor...if this is likely to piss them off, don't do it. But for me, I wasn't doing it to be deliberately pedantic (well, not completely). It was more of a record of yes, I am doing things when I am supposed to be doing them.
-Find a secondary mentor who has a better sense of time. Cultivate that relationship. When you need a last-minute recommendation or someone to bounce ideas off of in the moment, you have this person to go to.
Can you tell I had an advisor with some similar tendencies?

The other thing to remember is sometimes, getting no acceptances is unfortunate luck of the draw. It doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with your application, that you're not competitive, that you can't get in anywhere - it could simply mean that circumstances aligned so that you simply didn't work out anywhere you applied. That doesn't mean that you can't improve your application in the mean time; it simply means that you shouldn't feel disheartened or feel like you don't have a chance. This is especially true in clinical psychology, which is just super competitive anyway.
I would definitely recommend trying to get a position as a paid research assistant or a lab manager. You can do this at a university lab, but you can also do this at a government agency or think tank or nonprofit that does research. This is the time of year to look for these jobs, as the incumbents often just got into graduate school themselves and are leaving and their PIs are looking for their replacements.

I am traveling 2k miles with two dogs, a huge goldfish, and a husband. I am not comfortable taking my dogs, fish, or husband on a plane haha. We are traveling with everyone in our two vehicles. As a former vet tech, there are "railroads" across the country in which vet techs and other animal lovers volunteer their time to get pets safely to their new home. This could be another option for you but it can take longer.

Short version: you were in one lab and quit after less than three months because you didn't feel like you were learning anything and you had a heavy course load. You were in the second lab for a month and quit because the PI told you that you were doing too many things, you should do fewer of them and do them better, because your current profile would make it hard for you to be admitted for a Masters program. Instead of taking this as the very wise advice that it sounds like, you got very offended and walked away. Yeah, I don't think this is useful research experience. And frankly, I am not sure you are ready for graduate school. Both your latest post and the one above it convey an undergraduate mentality and an immaturity you should work through before proceeding with a graduate degree. 
To answer your question about the SOP, if you are applying for a degree in physics, you'll need to explain why you are interested in it and how you are prepared for it, given that your education and work experience are in another field. This doesn't mean that you have to tell the whole story of everything else you tried and your disappointments (you really shouldn't do that!) but you need to explain to the admissions committee how you know that physics is really what you want to do and you need to convince them that you are ready for the degree both academically and emotionally, and that you'll be able to follow through and succeed. Someone who keeps changing their interests and can't keep an RAship for even three months would raise red flags, so you need to give this some very careful thought and have a compelling case for why someone should take a risk and accept you. 

If we can survive the grad application process, I'm sure we'll survive meowing cats!
They don't seem to mind too much, but if I'm stopping at a hotel I'll make sure to leave food out for an hour or so. It gives them time to eat, but also restricts them enough that hopefully they've expelled what they need to before we start driving again the next morning. The worst experience I had with moving them was after I shipped them via airplane and had to drive them afterwards. We had to attach little things of cat food to the carriers in case they were delayed/stuck somewhere, and some kind soul decided to feed my cats at some point during the shipping process. Two hours in to our three hour drive, my female cat had a not-so-solid bowel movement that I'm sure happened both because she needed to poop but also was fed while super stressed out. We didn't have a great place to stop, so we just kept going until we hit home. Her first experience in our new home was a bath because she walked all over her mess. My cats won't die on a restricted diet for a few days  Water, obviously is another deal. I'm thinking about laying down some disposable pee pads just in case. 

No, OP expressed interest in the Business Psychology program. Did you look at the CSPP's website? There's an I/O track, but there's also a consulting track or an organizational leadership track. That's also why I asked the follow up - What are OP's research interests? Why business psych? Why international psych? There isn't a lot of overlap between the two programs.
Not to mention the whole goal of the International Psych track as stated by the program itself is to send people off to applied settings. Both the Organizations & Systems and Trauma Intervention concentrations require a master's degree AND work experience. The Business Psychology program is the same way. SIOP says that 100% of their most recent graduates have gone applied, with 80% working as consultants. They're not grooming professors, they're grooming business professionals. If OP's goal is a tenure track position, they should most definitely look elsewhere. 
You're right - APA accreditation is only immediately relevant to clinical, counseling, and school psychology programs. Except, if I look at an "established" school and see that their clinical and counseling programs aren't accredited knowing how important that is for clinical/counseling/school psychology graduates, I get concerned. There's an internship crisis as it is, and sending your students out into the workforce without having an accredited program is ridiculous. It makes the student's job that much more difficult, and I think it speaks to the attitudes of the psychology program as a whole. Did you read the article @thegradcafebarrista referenced? 
@psychhopeful334445 - If you're interested in I/O psychology, check out SIOP's website. They'll have some good stuff for you  Here's what I was referencing in regards to the business program having an applied focus: http://www.siop.org/gtp/gtpDisplay.asp?program=467. 

Read before bed, it'll help you retain stuff. Also get in the habit of positively reinforcing reading. Isolate yourself from distractions and pour yourself a nice cup of your favorite drink and just do it. Speed and comprehension come from practice while habits are built on repetition. 

I can't help you, but I'm trying to do the same thing and would love to see other people's responses!

Last time around I was rejected from all schools, too. It's an awful feeling, but it's not a poor reflection on you personally. Don't beat yourself up. Give yourself time to be sad, and decided whether or not you really want to go to grad school. 
If you do, fantastic! Here's what I did:
I retook my GRE's and spent a lot of time studying.  Volunteered in a lab (even though I had graduated). Took an online graduate certificate course from a mildly well known university. Attended two local conferences (undergrad/university level) for a poster presentation. Started a major project in the lab, and hopefully we'll have some publishable results. Wrote an article that was published in a student journal.  Attended some online webinars that were related to my research interests.  Rewrote my CV & Personal Statements. Applied for an outside grant. Got a paid job with the title of Research Assistant, even though it's not remotely related to what I want to study. Made sure that I had an excellent research fit with the programs I wanted to apply to this time around. Now, I can't say for sure if any of that helped or pushed me over the edge. Application cycles definitely vary from year to year and school to school. I also recognize that I've been privileged to have some extra money floating around so I could spend it on GRE stuff, online courses (which are terribly expensive), or spend time volunteering in a lab. There are other opportunities out there you could take advantage of if you're pressed for time and money, but don't stress out if you can't add all these things in to the mix. I also waited an additional application cycle so I could spend more time building up my CV and making sure I knew what I wanted to study. It's time consuming, to be sure, but I like to think that something in that list made it worth the while  
 

Hi! I would definitely focus on completing as many practice problems as possible under timed conditions. There are different tips that you can implement in order to give you more time such as memorizing answer choices ahead of time for Quant Comps, they never change!  A tutor may help with some fundamental strategies and approaches to questions that you may not have considered in the past. A third party can also add value by analyzing your strengths and weaknesses, and customizing a learning experience to your needs. 
Full disclosure: academicdoll is a private tutor for Parliament Tutors in Miami. 

Hi there! The most obvious way to improve your score is independent-study: complete as many practice problems as possible, take full-length practice exams under timed conditions,etc. A tutor may help with some fundamentals strategies and approaches to questions that you may not have considered in the past. A third-party can also add value by analyzing your strengths and weaknesses, and customizing a learning experience to your needs.
 
Full disclosure: Idalia is an academic advisor and private tutor for Parliament Tutors in Miami.

Last time around I was rejected from all schools, too. It's an awful feeling, but it's not a poor reflection on you personally. Don't beat yourself up. Give yourself time to be sad, and decided whether or not you really want to go to grad school. 
If you do, fantastic! Here's what I did:
I retook my GRE's and spent a lot of time studying.  Volunteered in a lab (even though I had graduated). Took an online graduate certificate course from a mildly well known university. Attended two local conferences (undergrad/university level) for a poster presentation. Started a major project in the lab, and hopefully we'll have some publishable results. Wrote an article that was published in a student journal.  Attended some online webinars that were related to my research interests.  Rewrote my CV & Personal Statements. Applied for an outside grant. Got a paid job with the title of Research Assistant, even though it's not remotely related to what I want to study. Made sure that I had an excellent research fit with the programs I wanted to apply to this time around. Now, I can't say for sure if any of that helped or pushed me over the edge. Application cycles definitely vary from year to year and school to school. I also recognize that I've been privileged to have some extra money floating around so I could spend it on GRE stuff, online courses (which are terribly expensive), or spend time volunteering in a lab. There are other opportunities out there you could take advantage of if you're pressed for time and money, but don't stress out if you can't add all these things in to the mix. I also waited an additional application cycle so I could spend more time building up my CV and making sure I knew what I wanted to study. It's time consuming, to be sure, but I like to think that something in that list made it worth the while  
 

Hello, everyone. I don't know who is still hanging out on this forum, but, because you all were incredible supporters and my source of energy during my difficult times, I thought I'd stopped by to happily announce that I have been officially accepted off the waitlist from my top choice school.
It really feels surreal and I really cannot believe that this has actually happened. I think it will take some time to sink in. This month has been quite wonderful for me actually, so I am very thankful for everything that I am given. It is indeed one of the best, most incredible thing that has happened to me. I really wish the best of luck to everyone who is starting this fall, or who is trying again next application cycle.
I wish you all the best!!!
Thank you so much for being there for me.

I don't quite know how a relationship gets put "on hold," but I moved with my husband also after being rejected from grad school. I personally hated it, as I went from a huge city to a small town. I'm literally counting the days until I move away to grad school, and it'll be lovely to see this place in my rear-view mirror  It was good for the relationship overall, though. I took that time to improve my grad school application package by volunteering in a lab at the nearest university and getting a job as a research assistant. Not only did it improve my CV, but I was able to get involved with like-minded people that way too. 
It took me a while to find "my own thing" after moving to a totally new place, but it was doable. Plus, sometimes it's good to move outside of your comfort zone, challenge yourself, and see a new part of the country  Fall is gorgeous up in Ithica! It also looks like Cornell Law/the graduate college hosts events for students with spouses/long term partners. This could also be a way to get plugged into the community and meet other people who are new to the area as well. You can volunteer or audit courses as well.

My dog does great in the car. I agree with @rising_star about using La Quintas. They're usually great, you get a free breakfast, and they're always pet friendly. I've read too many stories about dogs dying in the cargo holds of airplanes to even consider it, and I have a big ole doggy who would be way to expensive to fly anyways  
@yayspace - My cats fight sedation too, and it makes them awful to drive with. I found that if I don't sedate them they'll start to settle down about an hour into the drive. If you can make it through that first hour with music/podcasts/selective hearing, you may be fine. I restrict their food the night before and the day of so they're not pooping all over the place, but if I stop for a lunch break I'll give them some water. I'm also doing my longest drive this time around and am going to invest in a Sleepypod carrier that can be buckled in to the seats for safety. One of my cats really likes to be able to see what's going on, so the mesh top is helpful. They're also waterproof and come with a washable liner which I hope will contain any accidents. Like I said above with the dogs, there have been instances where pets have accidentally died or been let loose at the airports. Also, I don't know how the relocation services work, but not only do airlines sometimes restrict whether or not pets can fly in the cargo hold (because of extreme high temps that might be a factor in Louisiana summers!) but sometimes they only fly to the closest major airport. The one time I flew my cats because I didn't have a car, the closest airport I could fly in to with pets in the cargo hold was New Orleans. Then I had to have someone pick me up and drive me and the cats the remaining three hours to my destination. It was a pain! 

If we can survive the grad application process, I'm sure we'll survive meowing cats!
They don't seem to mind too much, but if I'm stopping at a hotel I'll make sure to leave food out for an hour or so. It gives them time to eat, but also restricts them enough that hopefully they've expelled what they need to before we start driving again the next morning. The worst experience I had with moving them was after I shipped them via airplane and had to drive them afterwards. We had to attach little things of cat food to the carriers in case they were delayed/stuck somewhere, and some kind soul decided to feed my cats at some point during the shipping process. Two hours in to our three hour drive, my female cat had a not-so-solid bowel movement that I'm sure happened both because she needed to poop but also was fed while super stressed out. We didn't have a great place to stop, so we just kept going until we hit home. Her first experience in our new home was a bath because she walked all over her mess. My cats won't die on a restricted diet for a few days  Water, obviously is another deal. I'm thinking about laying down some disposable pee pads just in case. 

Although the GPA is a summary statistic they use, most programs I'm aware of do not simply stop at the GPA. They will review your full transcript and take into account specific grades for relevant courses and also which courses were taken. So, courses after your degree still matter. However, as others said, you shouldn't count this in calculating your overall undergrad GPA (although if they asked for something like "GPA for the last 60 credit-hours" then you should count them). 

Yes! Im gonna be scouring goodwills and craigslist when i move!
Fun side note: my rental application was approved! Im officially moving in june!

I was thinking of doing this after I move, but there is also an IKEA right in Tempe...
*foaming at the mouth*

At first I was planning on quitting in july and starting in august and not doing anything at all....but recently I decided I am going to be adventurous while I can.  I worked hard for a few years and saved up enough money that I can enjoy myself this summer.

So...I am backpacking in yosemite for a week, going to Belize for a week, going to Haiti for a week, working at a summer camp (that my friend is a director at) for a few weeks, and probably visiting friends for a weekend here or there.
I also plan on reading a lot, probably binge watching some netflix, and spending some time with family.

Get out and have some fun! (as long as you can afford it!)

^ Along those lines, for Social Sciences / Humanities students: over time you will accumulate lots and lots of handouts, course notes, your own notes, etc. I make sure to scan everything at the end of each semester. It's somewhat of a pain but it's very helpful. I make sure to give the files informative names and keep them organized by year/course/topic so I can easily search through them. I've moved to taking meeting notes on my computer, as I mentioned above, but whatever I do by hand is also scanned and added to my collection. It makes life a lot easier when it's time to move and you don't want to carry a bunch of papers with you, and scanning 5 years worth of materials would be too daunting.